A Test Run
by Too Bloody Inspired
Summary: What happens when WCKD decides they need to test the gladers? They need to discover what happens when things become peaceful once again after all the destruction that's happened. Will they ever be able to settle for the calm, or will they throw themselves back into the mess? Enter Rosa, a variable never meant to be one in the first place. Can she help them pass the ultimate test?


**Hi, everyone! New to the Fanfiction community, but I couldn't help but try and write a new story? There will be elements of romance, comfort and friendship all bundled into one. I'd really appreciate if you guys could review and tell me if you'd consider reading more or not but, yeah! Hope you enjoy the first chapter.**

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She didn't even want to think about the irony that the situation retained when the only word she could describe it as was indescribable. How often did a normal person wake up in the pitch-black without any memory of her past? The one thing that the girl could hold onto at this point was her name and she gripped it tight without any hesitation.

 _Rosa, her name was Rosa._

Without any form of time-telling device, it was impossible to say how long Rosa had been down there and how long she was meant to remain there. Every so often there would be a clank of metal or a creak from the dim shaft, but nothing intelligible. Something didn't feel right and Rosa could feel it in her blood, the apprehension of more yet to come. She was a sensible girl and everyone knew that you couldn't just remain in a place like this forever. Even though Rosa didn't wholly know who she was, her brain forced reassurance that she wasn't in this place because she was bad.

After what felt like hours, the creaks began to be more frequent and within a few minutes of the increase in repetition, something even stranger happened. The shaft began moving.

Being trapped had very minor benefits, but one of them meant that Rosa was no longer shocked by the thought of it going up. Her fingertips knew very well the pattern made by the grates lining the elevator of sorts and the low red ambience resonating from the flickering light above had made the chain hoisting the entire thing up more apparent. She'd been waiting for this for a while now, and had been placing bets on whether it would be going up or down. Rosa took comfort in the fact that as she'd been doing this, there was a serene atmosphere; she wasn't just an intelligent girl, she was collected too and it meant that perhaps she might be able to face whatever destiny awaited her.

Compared to the hours it felt like waiting within the dingy compartment, her journey was over in mere seconds - the elevator moving much swifter than she'd anticipated. Rosa could now hear muffled shouts, her eyebrows furrowing as she attempted to make out what was being said but she didn't have to. The area above her was suddenly bathed in light and her expression scrunched up, eyes far from ready to adjust yet. It felt like a complete sensory overload: the warm sun already baking into her skin, the sound of metal clanging as the shaft was uncovered and the shouts that had now gone completely silent. It didn't take long for Rosa to throw her palm up to her brows, shading her eyes from the vicious sunlight and allow her curious eyes to take in all they could. And what she could see looked like around thirty boys all craning to get a glance at her.

"Hello?" Rosa asked, her voice had a slight croak to it from underuse but she was surprised to hear it sound somewhat lighter than she expected. She'd half expected her voice to let her down but it appeared as if it wasn't her that she had to worry about. There was perhaps no other situation that she could imagine to be even half as awkward as this and she _still_ hadn't even gotten out of the compartment. "A little help would be lovely…" Rosa suggested, hoping it would knock some of them back into the place and luckily it did.

An older-looking guy had stooped down and offered a hand to Rosa within seconds, seeming a little more composed than the rest of the boys at this point, and she took it happily. The guy was definitely strong, she'd give him that as he hoisted her up and onto the grass within a matter of moments. His eyes were tracing her up and down, searching for something so hard that Rosa felt suddenly a lot more uncomfortable under his unwavering glare. It seemed though, there wasn't much to be found and with a reluctant sigh, the boy nodded as if affirming previous thoughts.

"Name's Alby," he introduced, offering me his hand. "Welcome to The Glade."

Rosa frowned at that. The words didn't compute in her mind and as everything (and everyone) around her was slowly beginning to go back to their business, an unease built in her stomach. She'd felt so confident a moment or two ago that maybe she'd get out of there and everything would be fine and yet everyone else here had a place. She was the odd one out.

The boys clearly noticed a shift in her attitude and now there were only three left remaining anyway. Alby, whom had already introduced himself to her; a blond boy, slightly taller than Alby but which a leaner figure and then a few metres back Rosa noticed another boy, expression as curious as hers had been directed straight at her. She began to notice that they were all waiting on her to say something more, she'd already made it obvious she wasn't a mute.

"Rosa. I don't know much else, but I know my name's Rosa," the girl finally spoke, swallowing down the anxiety that had been clutching at her insides. Honestly, it was beginning to feel like she could vomit, but Rosa knew she had to stay strong. She wanted to know everything that they knew. Did they remember their pasts? Had they arrived in this place like her? Why were they even here? "What-...?"

"No questions right now, they'll all be answered in due time," Alby interrupted her. He didn't seem angry, but the words flowed out enough to sound so routine that Rosa knew it would just cause an annoyance to ask. Considering he was the only one who'd spoken this entire time, it was clear he had some sort, if not all, of the authority in this so-called 'Glade' and the last thing she wanted to do was cause trouble. "Thomas?" he spoke, his voice a little harsher this time as he rounded on the boy separate from us. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

There was a sudden scream from the corner of the meadow and Rosa's head whipped round to try and see what was going on. For the first time since arriving, she really took in her surroundings and her jaw dropped. Walls the size of god knows what surrounded the entirety of the place and what Rosa had assumed was actually a rather pleasant seeming utopia turned into a prison. The source of the screaming it appeared was (yet another) boy, coming out of one of the vast entrances of the walls. She'd barely even noticed Alby telling the blond boy to keep an eye out for her until she saw his head disappearing off into the distance, focused on that boy. Rosa's breathing had become slightly short, panic combining with her clueless sense of the place had caused her to freak out slightly. She definitely didn't belong here.

"Rosa? Come on, Rosa. It's fine, don't worry about it," a soothing voice called her out of the anxiety that was riddling her body and she turned to face the two remaining boys, Thomas having crept closer since the last time he was already told to go away. "It's under control, someone just got hurt but they'll be fine, yeah?" the blond kept reassuring her and she slowly nodded, her eyes finally moving from the scene once the injured boy had been taken into a tent of sorts.

"Who are you?" Rosa asked softly, hating how much she had to look up to both boys.

"I'm Newt, and I expect you already heard good ol' Tommy boy here being told off," Newt responded, swinging an arm around a slightly embarrassed Thomas. She could tell that both of them were a little shaken by what had happened too, eager to shoot off and discover the truth. "You're a real sight for sore eyes at least, bit strange how you're here but you're definitely welcome anyway."

Now that caught Rosa's attention, her hair swinging over her shoulder as her head cocked slightly to the right. Surely all of them had to have come through at some point, so why would it be 'strange' that she was here.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"Well," Newt paused, looking over at Tommy for what appeared to be confirmation. "You're the only girl we've ever had."


End file.
